Method of preparing wiener sausages



Patented June 7, 1927.

UNITED STATES v 1,631,723 PATENT OFFICE.

ERWIN O. FREUND, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO THE VISKING CORPORA- TION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

METHOD OI PREPARING WIENER SAUSAGES.

No Drawing.

This invention relates particularly to the preparation of sausages of the kind commonly known as wieners, andflthe primary object of the invention is to provide an improved product and a simple method of pre aring the same.

ausages of the .kind usually known as wieners ordinarily are prepared principally from beef meat. The meat is ground and suitably seasoned, or spiced; also, the meat commonly has mixed therewith a cereal meal, or flour, such as a corn meal, or flour, ada ted to give a certain consistency and ren er the product more palatable and more desirable as a food.

It is common p actice to grind ice in with the meat for the purpose of chilling it, before the stufiing operation is performed. In accordance with the present process, the meat, after being properly prepared, is stuffed into an artificial casing, preferably a cellulose casing. A casing particularlyv well adapted to the present purpose is described in an applicatlon of William F. Henderson and Harold E. Dietrich, Serial No.-

101,958, filed in the United States Patent Oflice April 14, 1926, such casing being formed by extruding viscose into tubular form and coagulating the viscose; purifying the 'casing; introducing into the casing a small percentage of a hygroscopic agent, such as glycerin;'and drying the casing.

The dried casing may be gathered onto, or shirred upon a suitable mandrel,'or mounting-tube, and may be applied to the extruding horn of a sausage machine and filled in the same manner as natural casings.

In accordance with the present process, the cellulose casing is filled with the meat which contains water and which is in a semifluid condition. After stufling, the sausage ma be sprinkled with water to facilitate sli ing onthe stufiing table and also to facilitatelinking. Linking is accomplished in the usual manner by twistin the casing at suitable intervals. After linking, the sausage is a'subjected to a/curing operation, by smoking. The common practice is to subject the sausage to the action of smoke at a tem rature of about 165 F., usually for .a period of from one to four hours. practice is suitable in the present process.

After the smoking operationhas been performed, the: sausages are cooked, or partlally co he in v t o ater, 01.

This ing an ope .by s pp g Application filed August 19, 1926. Serial No. 130,363.

water near the boiling point; or the cooking may be performed in a special room where the sausages are subjected to the cooking action of wet-steam. The cooking may be more. or less thorough, as desired, one of the purposes being to thoroughly sterilize the sausages. Another object is to render the product more tender. 1

In the operation of curing the sausage by smoking, the sausage meat changes from a semi-fluid condition to a solid and rather tenaclous condition; also, the smoking operat-1on coagulates proteins in the sausage, especially at the surface of the sausage, thereby producing a tenacious skin-portion. In the subsequent cooking operation, -the tenacious skin formed on the meat itself is not destroyed. In fact, there may be to a certain extent a further agglutination of the particles of which the sausage is composed. The cookingoperation results in the interposition of a film of water between the cellulose-casing and the sausage in the casing. This renders it possible, after the cooking operation, to strip the casing from the sausage by drawing the c'asing back over itself: or, if desired, the casing may be slitted and readily peeled from the sausage although ordinarily the skinning operation may be performed by simply drawing the casing back over itself as a glove may be taken from the hand. 7

Artificial sausage casings of the character mentioned possess an exceedingly fine texture and produce a very fine smooth surface on the meat forming the sausage. It has been found that the casing may be removed from the sausage at the stage after the cooking ope eration and that the sausage will then possess a fine smooth surface, and ma be handled and treated in all respects li e a saucage contained in a casing. That is, the stripped sausage will hol its shape, will stand handling without breaking, and can be cooked, fried, or grilled without falling apart. 2 a To facilitate the skinning of the sausages, the sections are cut-apart at the linkages, or twisted rtions of the casing; the twisted end-portions of the links are untwisted, leavn end which may readily be turned and the casing is removed back over itself, I

operation in an obvious manner. I I

It is preferred to cool the sausage, eithe by chilling or by allowing to stand until near room temperature, before peeling the sausage. In the cookingo eration, the water which becomes interposed etween the casing and body of sausage roduces a clean line of cleavage. During t 1e subse uent cooling of the sausage, this interposed lm of water may largely or even wholly disappear, but nevertheless the skinning operation ma be performed readily, leaving a perfectly c ean, smooth outer surface on the sausage, which is highly important in the product. 1 If desired, the stripped sausage may be placed in a can, the can may be sealed, and the sausa es may be cooked in a pressure cooker. uch cooking is usually performed at about 2 0 F. for a period of one'hour. It has been found that the stripped sausa es may be cooked in this manner without isintegration and without change of form.

The cellulose casin lends itself to the process described, partly ecause of the very fine texture and smoothness of the cellulose film,

and partly because of a certain freedom from adherence between the meat and cellulose casing. Taken at the stage where water is present between the meat and the casing and after the meat has been compacted, the proteins at the surface, particularly, coagulated and the particles of meat agglutinated, the skinning operation is readil performed and a flawless product is rea ily produced. The use of glycerin in the cellulose casing tends to prevent cracking of the casing and tends to preserve the tenacious quality of the casing, so that the skinning of the casing from the sausage is thus facilitated. However, it is not believed that the glycerin is present in sufiicient quantity to enter, to any material extent,

into the formation of the protein skin on the-surface of the meat during the purifying operation effected by smoking.

The improved sausage possesses the advantage that it is free from the artificial casing, which, while edible, may be objectionable to some people; also, the sausage .is rendered more tender by reason of the absence of the I casing. Moreover, the

sausage is free from suggestion of taint, sometimes associated with the use of natural casings. The sausage resulting from the im proved process is of inviting appearance, which is a further advantage in this class of product.

2. The process of preparing a sausage which comprises: stufiing the prepared meat into a cellulose casing to form a sausage;

subjecting the sausage to a curing operation by smoking the sausage; sub eoting the cured sausage to heat in a wet atmosphere; cooling the sausage; and stripping the easing from the sausage.

.3. The process of preparing a sausage 80. in semi-fluid condition into a c'ellulose casl which comprises: introducing sausage meat ing; converting the meat into solid condition by a curing operation; subjecting the sausage to heat in a moistatmosphere; and stripping the casing from the sausage while in moist condition. y

4. The process of preparing a sausage which comprises: stuflin with sausage meat a cellulose casing and linking the casing at intervals; curing the sausage by a smoking operation and thereby solidifying the meat within the casing and producing a tenacious skin at the surface of the meat; subjecting, the sausage to a cooking operation in moist atmosphere; severing the sausage at the linking points; and skinning the casing-sections from the severed links. Y Y

' ERWIN O. FREUND 

